Video of the scary situation has since surfaced on the internet, showing the endangered animal dragging the toddler through the habitat as he ran around, but other shots portrayed the primate behaving protectively towards the youngster.

And even famed primatologist Jane Goodall noticed that Harambe didn't seem to be acting violently.

On Monday, the Jane Goodall Institue released an email that the 82-year-old sent to Cincinnati Zoo's director Thane Maynard on Sunday, and the UK native revealed that she doesn't believe the gorilla had any intention of harming the toddler, writing: